licensetocrane | IC CONTACT

That's pretty convenient. [She hopes it was voluntary and she doesn't want to pry long enough to ask. Not yet.] So you can create snow and ice. What else can you do?

[Ha ha ha ha hAHAHA-]

Well, I started with light, then fire. And flying too, but you knew that. I started learning the plant glyph recently, but it's really difficult, so I'm not sure I can get away with saying I can do it yet.

[See sometimes not asking is a good thing--]

...what's the plant glyph? Is it just, like, growing them real well or can you create those out of nothing too?

It can do either, depending on location or the size of the glyph. Like, I don't think it would work down here unless the floor isn't too thick. but it could make something big appear if there was some ground nearby.

You're not movin' in on Barry's territory, are you?

[She's joking. He can do what he damn well pleases.]

[He smiles back at her. Joke or not, there's a degree of truth to it.]

More like his legacy. Hunter taught me these glyphs, but who do you think taught me theory?

[Alchemy, glyph magic, plenty of science nerdery. He couldn't do magic but he could help draw glyphs on the floor for rituals, listen in on lectures and take notes. Master Draxum was there his whole life, too, and very much part of the family.]

It is a mystery. [It is not.] Legacy, huh. I think he'd like that.

[She kinda misses him. Unsure what Draxum would have thought about this whole situation; she wonders if he'd be on Donnie's side in all this.

...look, she still misses him.]

I think so, too. Well, he might not say it, but he'd do that noncommittal grumble and smirk to himself about it. Probably.

[Some things don't change, even decades down the road. Casey misses him, too- both versions.]

I think it's good he's back home with Mikey, though. [...] Maybe it'll stop Dee from doin' even more stupid stuff.

[There's logic in there somewhere, promise.]

Think he might need a reminder that Mikey's at least got parental supervision.

[Also: doubt on Donatello's side of it, but he'll keep that to himself! He will be good and pretend-hopeful!

Mikey does have Splinter and Draxum, though. Double masters! Surely one of them will stop him from killing himself via portal... ha ha... hah... no, we are going for hopeful, definitely. Greatest weapon blah blah blah.]

That's what I told him. And like... he's spirallin' to begin with, but I can't blame him. Nobody else that I know of has gone home and remembered they were here until they came back. You and me are from different times and I sure didn't go, "huh, this Casey is not my Casey." [She offers him an apologetic smile, like she feels like she should somehow notice, but she also knows that's dumb.] But I guess even if it's really unlikely that Mikey goes home and remembers, that tiny chance is what he's gonna fixate on. I get it.

But Mikey got yelled at big time about usin' his powers like that. From Barry. I gotta hope if he tries anything, he won't do it without seekin' help, and Barry will at least make sure he tries it safely. With backup.

[She hopes. Her logic tracks, but now that Donnie has put the thought in her head, of course--]

And tradin' Donnie's life and morals for Mikey ain't gonna fly with any one of us, least of all Mikey. So. I can tell him all that, but I can't do anything much about fear.

[Finding very little of note in the storage area, Casey steps out again and continues down the hall. The busted-up Stargate-looking room is next. As he listens, he looks unsure but thoughtful, brows furrowed.]

I wonder if we're all just- making a bunch of "bifurcated time branches", whenever we go back. Like, our worlds and our old selves are just gonna go on living as they did, but if we remember, it'll be a whole new version of everything.

[Kind of comforting, but also terrifying? He can't decide. Maybe it's both. He'd be grateful of both could keep existing, like the new timeline and his own home.]

...Um, sorry. [Can't un-detonate that wacky bombshell, but he can at least apologize for it.] You're right, though. About both. Maybe we can throw some of Dr. Feelings' lessons on fear cope at him, see what sticks. Barring that, throw other stuff.

[Like shoes, footballs, and at least one shovel.]

[April waves off his apology--there are any number of theories out there and she doesn't dwell on them too much for the simple fact she'll go insane. It's hardly as if Donnie hasn't brought up bifurcated time branches a dozen times already. The second part does earn a snort of amusement, though.]

I mean, throwin' stuff is always fun. But yeah, best we can do is find a circuit breaker for all that panic he's havin'. That's... hard. But I think it's doable, we just gotta find the right angle.

[She pauses.] We in general. I wouldn't blame you if you didn't want anything else to do with him.

[Casey chews on that one for a bit, unsure of what exactly he wants to commit to, before settling on the answer he'd given Rue days before:]

I don't wanna see him. For a while, at least. [He doesn't even know what "a while" is, yet. Not soon. Everything's raw and tangled, everything still hurts in a way he's not yet sure how to process.] Feeling's mutual anyway, I'd bet, so it's not like it matters.

[Well, okay. It does matter. And Donatello's probably not going to jump for his jugular again, so some of his feelings on what went down can be shelved sooner or later. But at least he has confirmation that April's cool with him playing the evasion game until he's ready.]

That's fair. [She's already said her piece about thinking they could work it out, and Casey needs the space. He'll think on it later, she knows. She follows him down the corridor, no longer really looking into the rooms as they pass. It's too bleak. Though if she sees something that's obviously been left behind by a kidnappee, she'll collect it.]

I did try talkin' to him about you once. I dunno if I told you.

Oh... no. Guessing it didn't go so well.

[She'd said she would, but a lot was happening at the time, and then things kept happening while Donnie pulled away from everyone in the background. He's sort of figured it fell off the wagon, and over time forgot about it. Sort of didn't feel important, once they hit the no-longer-talking stage.]

No. [She won't go into detail. Donnie is still her best friend despite everything.] It's a touchy subject for him. When I realised how upset he was getting, I let it go. I figured I'd end up doin' more damage if I pushed.

[She pauses.] But it wasn't cut and dried, y'know? I'm pretty sure his feelings about you are like a ball of tangled string. Kinda require some careful untanglin', but the only person who can do that is Donnie. It's not fair on you to get the brunt of that. If the way things work is you both just kind of exist together, then that's the way it has to be.

[Unspoken is she wishes it didn't have to be that way. She hates that they're at odds. But Donnie kidnapping Casey is so far over the freaking line there is no way she's gonna try playing peacemaker between the two of them.]

[Casey listens carefully, taking it all in, wordless and (trying to be) expressionless. Can't kill the messenger and all that. And he's not even really sure how to feel about, well, any of it. He's still a big prickly ball of conflict and he'd love to find a place to aim himself that wasn't liable to cause more trouble. (Probably why Donatello sort of imploded and did exactly that, to be honest.)

It isn't fair... none of it is. Not that he's a target, but also that Donnie had to experience all of what he did that pushed him into a corner of needing one. The Krang aren't here, neither are the ones who hurt him and Leo at ADI. Thirteen is untouchable. It's possible that his real crime is being conveniently here. He's someone that can be yelled at, dismissed, fought with, experimented on, should any and all be necessary.

Anyway... didn't he ask for that? Didn't he volunteer?

He pauses then, looking up as he recognizes this section of the hallway. Oh. This is where...

"I'm mad that you think you get to burst into my life, act like you're some kind of hero, butter us all up and then almost kill my brother!"
"Fuck you for being proud of that!"
"I didn't- I wasn't- If he'd just waited-"

A bone-rattling screech. Claws and teeth. But also, and perhaps most of all: a lot of fear.]

...Yeah, [he manages finally, noncommittal, but as sure as he's going to get in this moment.] That'll be- fine. I can live with it.

[At least they're all alive. If Donnie can't like him or he can't forgive Donnie and they just tolerate each others' existences from here on... they're alive. There's always hope. Sensei would like that.

He scuffs at his eyes again, stubborn, and picks up the pace. Gateway room is coming up.]

[She's not sold on the expressionless bit. April thinks it'd be nice to change the subject, but it's kind of hard when they're trudging through the ruins of Donnie's personal breakdown. So she lapses into silence, not sure what Casey is thinking and unwilling to assume anything, given she's been wrong on a whole bunch of stuff lately.

Evidence all around them and all. She lags a step or two occasionally as something catches her eye, but catches up again soon after. There are... a lot of cells down here. Which begs a comment of a different kind.]

...so many people went missin'. And nobody reported them on the network. [That's, uh. Creepy.]

[Casey makes a thoughtful noise. That is weird.]

He took our relics, they were with the rest of my gear when I got out. It was kinda blowing up with messages when I checked... Hunter was real mad. [He got in so much trouble.] I wonder if most people thought it was a trial.

[At least April has a... well, not a good excuse, but a valid one.]

[She winces at the idea of Hunter being mad, because yeah, of course he was.]

Probably. A kind of complacency I get, but that's really not great. [So much terrible shit can be done if nobody bothers checking in.] If I ever go missin', please hunt for me immediately.

You better believe I'd make some noise about it.

[He'd be knocking on doors on day 1, he'd like to think. It's very different from the reality he's used to; often back home, if someone went missing on the surface, it was hard to justify risking more lives for a search and rescue. Though loved ones weren't barred from looking, so of course it still happened. He'd been found and rescued a few times himself, and he's sure April would try to find him if the roles were reversed. It's much, much safer to search for missing people in this world, and he'd be ashamed of himself if he just sat around.]

Good. Feelin's mutual. [She grins, before it kind of twists into making such a face.] I mean, I guess if I'm not in a coma at the time. But I know Leo and Raph were searchin' at least.

[Them not hitting the network makes perfect sense for a family that's always lived beneath the radar.]

Yeah, they were coming in as everyone else was getting out. I knew you were down for the count, and Rue was taking care of you.

[It's not like they were sitting around doing nothing. (Not intentionally, that is.)]

Rue was, huh? [She'd wondered. Freeing Leo and Raph up to look for Casey and Donnie; she knows enough that Leo and Raph were already worried that he wasn't picking up, right before she went under.] I need to send them a huge thank you basket or some such.

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